OMEGA celebrates the achievements of the 1969 Apollo 11 space mission by releasing a limited edition 18K gold Speedmaster. Marking the 50th anniversary of the milestone in space travel, OMEGA plays off the "golden anniversary" moniker of 50 years, and pays homage to the past Speedmaster BA145.022 that was crafted from 18K yellow gold with a burgundy bezel, gifted at the 1969 Astronaut Appreciation Dinner — that particular watch had “to mark man’s conquest of space with time, through time, on time,” engraved at the caseback, and was gifted to the president at the time, Richard Nixon.
Not only celebrating that historic journey that saw Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the surface of the moon, the watch also celebrates how far OMEGA’s Speedmaster has come in half a century. While there are great details that point to ’70s-era Speedys, this 50th anniversary Apollo 11 watch sees numerous updates. The gold that OMEGA is using for its 42mm case and bracelet is a new 18K Moonshine™ gold alloy that is more pale than traditional 18K, and is more resilient to fading over time. The watch also features an eye-catching burgundy ceramic [ZrO 2 ] bezel with a tachymeter scale in Ceragold™; the scale retains the vintage 500 units per hour, and a marker dot over 90 (DON).
Both the dial and caseback have a significant amount of detail and thought put into them, as the "Au750" dial is contrasted by black-varnish hands and facetted onyx indexes. OMEGA chose to go with a display caseback, revealing the new manual Co-Axial Calibre 3861 that’s circled by a decorative PVD ring. The ring contains a partial map of the American
continents and the Moon on the opposite side. Presentation-wise, the watch will come in a special 3D-printed, lunar surface "Crater Box."
Further details include the dates "1969 – 2019" engraved at the back, as well as "“APOLLO 11 – 50th ANNIVERSARY” and “THE FIRST WATCH WORN ON THE MOON” on the PVD circle. This watch is limited to 1,014 pieces, and will retail for a price of approximately $36,000 USD.
For more watch news, TAG Heuer announces a new Monaco watch for its 50th Anniversary.
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